Auto industry key to achieve $1 trn manufacturing economy

Auto makers today are adopting disruptive technologies and processes to boost productivity and improve quality. India is rightfully on the path to become a global auto manufacturing hub, says P Srinivasavaradhan.

Over the last few years, the Indian automotive industry has come of age, opening doors for various Indian manufacturers, multinational companies and providing them greater scope and opportunity to showcase and make the best use of the technologies and human capital. According to a report, India is the fourth largest automobile market in the world. This growth can be attributed to increased globalisation, higher localisation by OEMs, efficient component content per vehicle and rising exports from India are some of the phenomena witnessed by the automotive industry.

Today, the industry is adopting disruptive technologies and processes to boost productivity and improve quality, reduce manufacturing time and make the business more viable and smarter for the future. Addressing the environmental impact and growing need for electrification and the evolving consumer demand for autonomous and connected vehicles, the industry is progressing into a new era of diversified mobility, connectivity, safety and electrification among others key factors. The automotive industry under the ‘Automotive Mission Plan 2016-26’ aims to contribute 12 per cent to the GDP from its current 7 per cent. The initiatives will further the vision of enhancing the road and highway infrastructure, strengthening mass transport in urban and rural areas, redefine last-mile connectivity and integrate automation and digitization to a host of services in different vehicle segments.

The Indian auto components industry is another important sector, which is seeing phenomenal growth over the last few years accounting for 2.3 per cent of India’s GDP. The industry employs as many as 1.5 million people directly and indirectly each, and according to a recent report, the Indian auto-components industry is expected to see turnover of about $ 100 billion by 2020. Riding on the wave, vehicle and auto component manufacturers have made focused efforts to augment productivity and quality in manufacturing through lean tools and facility upgradation programs. Facility upgradation program has helped the companies to set new benchmarks and adopt newer smart manufacturing practices, which include low cost automation, IoT, Artificial Intelligence, Machine/Computer Learning among others backed by the strong frugal engineering practices.

Companies have also adopted “Industry 4.0” which is a transformation initiative intended towards, reskilling the employees at all levels, all functions and across locations to achieve global standards of performance. It is a giant leap towards integration of traditional industrial and manufacturing practices with the modern-day technology. It has helped in building a connected and an intelligent future for manufacturing in India and around the world. In addition, Digitization will open new avenues to address the growing customer demands and fix issues at hand in lesser time. Automotive and auto component manufacturers understand the need of an integrated digital supply chain, which can help in reducing costs significantly and engage the customer by collecting important statistics and data to and leveraging the potential of Industry 4.0.

The processes and product varieties has played a major role in shaping up the supply chain management of the automotive companies. Supply Chain Management (SCM) brings together manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and the customers under one roof and leverage the technological and manufacturing capabilities of the companies to maximize the reach and contribute to the success of the businesses. The new industrial policies will also play a pivotal role to reduce regulatory hurdles and encourage adoption of technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence in the industry. Listening and acting on customer’s feedback through social media channels, combined with IoT will create a much-needed feedback loop to the automotive smart factory.

The emphasis has shifted from India being just a production base to becoming an integrated manufacturing ecosystem. The two-wheeler industry hopes for a better year in 2020. It doesn’t rely only on creating opportunities and newer avenues, but introduce cutting edge innovation in production, planning and other manufacturing capabilities. Driven by the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, manufacturers are investing in enhancing the skill levels and imparting technical training to make the workforce and manufacturing ‘Future Ready’.

About the author:

P Srinivasavaradhan is the President of TVS Srichakra Ltd, which is engaged in the business of two-wheeler, three-wheeler and other industrial tyre manufacturing.